![]() Varney's conflict eventually leads him to drastic action. Varney is also the first example of the "sympathetic vampire," a vampire who hates his night job but is a slave to it nevertheless - a theme which has become popular in modern vampire fiction. His vampirism seems to be a fit that comes on him when his vital energy begins to run low he is a regular person between feedings. He can eat and drink in human fashion as a form of disguise, but he points out that human food and drink do not agree with him. Unlike later fictional vampires, he is able to go about in daylight and has no particular fear or loathing of crosses or garlic. Many of today's standard vampire tropes originated with Varney: Varney has fangs, leaves two puncture wounds on the necks of his victims, has hypnotic powers, and has superhuman strength. Varney was an enormous influence on later vampire literature, such as Dracula (1897) by Bram Stoker. It's a bodice-ripper with 220 chapters of riveting Victorian Gothic horror and one hell of an ending! ![]() Varney the Vampire, or, The Feast of Blood by James Malcolm Rymer was one of the original vampire penny dreadfuls (c. ![]()
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